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Traditionalists vs. Reformers

There is little room for the intellectually sophisticated “traditionalist” in William Voegeli’s (and apparently David Brooks‘) taxonomy of conservatives: For conservatives, the coming argument about core principles will pit “Traditionalists” against “Reformers,” according to David Brooks of the New York Times…The Traditionalists, Brooks says, include Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Grover Norquist of Americans for […]

There is little room for the intellectually sophisticated “traditionalist” in William Voegeli’s (and apparently David Brooks‘) taxonomy of conservatives:

For conservatives, the coming argument about core principles will pit “Traditionalists” against “Reformers,” according to David Brooks of the New York Times…The Traditionalists, Brooks says, include Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. They’re convinced the cure for the problems of conservatism is more conservatism: “Cut government, cut taxes, restrict immigration. Rally behind Sarah Palin.”

Reformers, by contrast, believing that “American voters will not support a party whose main idea is slashing government,” recommend “new policies to address inequality and middle-class economic anxiety.”…The most prominent Reformers are writers. Brooks’s list includes: David Frum, author of Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again; Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, co-authors of Grand New Party; Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review; and Yuval Levin of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

From Voegeli’s use of David Brooks’ categories of conservatives, a reader of this morning’s RealClearPolitics would conclude that most “traditionalists” are talk radio movement types, and that all the serious intellectuals are “reformers.”  This is no less than a hijacking of the word “traditionalist,” which also describes those of a more Burkean sensibility; the real traditionalists are not against “reform,” but exercise a kind of prudence not found among Brooks’ (and presumably Voegeli’s) “reformers,” several of whom continue to push a hawkish foreign policy agenda that can hardly be described as conservative.  Limbaugh and Hannity, primarily concerned with the next media cycle, should perhaps be called “movement” conservatives—but not “traditionalists.”

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